Description

The property, which was formerly the residence of the noble Boecklinde Boecklinsau family, was bought at the end of the 18th centuryby Baruch Levy, a wealthy Jew, who built the mikveh (ritual bath) inthe basement of the outbuildings. It is one of the most remarkableJewish ritual baths known in Alsace.The Bischheim mikveh was classified as a historic monument in 1977.The museum also has an interesting collection of liturgical Jewishobjects and documents connected with the history of Judaism inBischheim.

The word “mikveh” or ritual bath means “gathering of the waters” andrefers to a subterranean pool which must be fed by pure water froma natural source, in this case ground water. The laws of purificationhold an important place in Judaism and every Jewish communitymust have its own mikveh. Ritual immersion in pure water is todaymainly used for Jewish women at the end of their menstrual cycleto allow them to resume marital relations.

The David Sintzheim room

Rabbi David Sintzheim was Rabbi in Bischheim before being called tosit on the Grand Sanhedrin council, which was convened by NapoleonBonaparte in 1806. He became the first Chief Rabbi of France in 1807.

In this room, where the history of the Jewish community of Bischheimis retraced in a collection of pictures, several beautiful ritual objectsare on permanent exhibition, including the Torah scrolls which are madeup of the first five chapters of the Bible (the Pentateuch). These texts,written by hand on parchment, are read every Sabbath and on holy daysin the synagogue. To help him follow the text, the worship leader usesthe «Yad», literally «hand», the Jewish ritual pointer.

The staircase and the bath

The pool, whose stone lining is situated more than 8.50 metresbelow ground level, was dug in alluvial soil at ground water level.Clear water can still be found there even today during heavy rainand high water periods.The underground room is around 4 metres high from the bottom ofthe pool to the vaulted ceiling. Two openings in the ceiling allowedhot water to be brought in to warm up the 500 litres of holy water.The spiral staircase, in theRenaissance style, consists of48 steps reaching a height of7.50 metres in total. It is of thehelical type: the end of each stepis cut in such a way as to formwith the others a central clusterof three columns that wind round in a spiral. On at least twenty ofthe steps, the mark of the stone mason can be made out carvedinto the stairway, revealing that they were cut in the last quarterof the 16th century.There are niches carved into sandstoneblocks set along the walls, which wereused to hold candles or oil lamps tolight the way down the stairs andthe bath.Half way up there is another room of a surface area of around7m2that was used as a changing room. There was also a chimneyplace to heat the water and raise the ambient temperature a little.

Info

Details of the event

Name of organization: Cour des Boecklin

Tel.: 03 88 81 49 47

Contact mail: courdesboecklin@ville-bischheim.fr

Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/CourDesBoecklin/

Contact website: http://www.ville-bischheim.fr/

Cost/s if any: Free entrance.